Historic non-profit puts HQ up for sale

One of the city’s oldest non-profit organizations has put its Gramercy Park headquarters on the block, the Wall Street Journal reported. The Xavier Society for the Blind will sell the 16,000-square-foot building at 154 East 23rd Street through brokerage Eastern Consolidated, starting with an asking price of $13 million.

The organization is downsizing drastically because its services — providing large print and braille books and periodicals — are no longer needed due to technological advances.

“When the Kindle came out, the blind community was so excited,” John Sheehan, chairman of the Xavier Society board, told the Journal. “Finally a blind person could get the same book at the same time, at the same price, as a sighted person.” [WSJ]